Golf tee

ABSTRACT

A golf tee comprising a body, support legs secured to the body, a contact surface at one end of the body, and a flat face at an opposite end of the body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] When driving a ball on a golf course, the ball is traditionally placed upon a plastic or wooden tee which has a lower pointed end for sticking into the grass to position the tee, and an upper shallow cup into which the golf ball is located.. The direction of travel of the golf ball, after being hit is dependent solely upon the angle of the striking face of the golf club when it contacts the ball. As a consequence, an average golfer who has a tendency not to hit a golf ball “squarely” is liable to hook, or slice the ball which may then not land upon the fairway.

[0002] It will therefore be of a great advantage to an average golfer if this problem can be avoided and a straight drive off the tee can be achieved with every drive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] It is an object of this invention to overcome the disadvantages of utilizing a normal tee when driving a golf ball. This object is achieved by using a tee which supports a golf ball near a front face of the tee such that when the tee itself is struck with a golf club, the golf ball is ejected at an angle preset by the alignment of the tee.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0005]FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the golf tee of this invention;

[0006]FIG. 2 is a plan view, in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 of the golf tee of this invention;

[0007]FIG. 3 is a side elevational view in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1, of the golf tee of this invention; and

[0008]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the golf tee of this invention.

[0009] Similar reference numerals are used in different drawings to denote similar components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Of; THE INVENTION

[0010] Referring specifically to the Figures, the golf tee consists of a body 1 of square cross-section, although other suitable sections could be used, and elongated. One end of the body is wedge-shaped and rounded and provides a vertical rounded contact surface 3 and an angled rounded surface 5. At the other end of body 1 there is a straight, flat, slightly angled face 7. Near the bottom corners of face 7 there are two pins 9 axially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the body. Pins 9 preferably each have a small head 11 at their free ends,

[0011] Two legs 13 extend from the lower face 15 of the body 1 to support the body above a playing surface by pushing the lower ends of the legs into the soil at the tee-off areas of a golf course.

[0012] A screw 17 or other suitable type of fastener is secured in the central region of the lower face 15 to which a nylon or other type of flexible line 19 can be secured, with its opposite end secured to a small wooden or plastic stake 21 for restraining the tee during use. The line need only be three to four feet long and instead of stake 21 any other retainer such as a clip can be used to for instance fasten line 19 to a golf towel or the like for tethering purposes.

[0013] To use the golf tee, the body 1 is positioned above the grass of a tee-off area by partly pushing legs 13 into the soil, aligning face 7 so that it is at right angles to the direction of drive required, and positioning a golf ball shown diagrammatically at 23 upon the pins 11. The retainer 21 can then be placed into the ground no more than approximately six inches from the tee.

[0014] To drive the ball 23 the tee is then struck on contact surface 3 with a golf club, and it will be noted that any variation in the angle of striking the contact surface 3 will not affect the angle at which the golf ball 23 will leave the tee as this will depend solely upon the positioning of the tee with face 7 at right angles to the required trajectory of the ball. The movement of the tee after the drive will be arrested by the line 19 and stake 21,

[0015] Although specific materials have not been referred to in the description of this golf tee, the body 1 could be made of wood or any suitable plastic, or even of metal, the only requirement being that transmission of the force from the golf club through contact surface 3 to face 7 should be as efficient as possible. Of course, the material of the tee must also be strong enough so that the body 1 can withstand repeated striking by a golf club and does not begin to disintegrate until many drives have been made. Yellow birch has been found to be a good wood material to use for the body. The pins 11 and legs 13 can be made of metal such as common nails or a suitable tough plastic.

[0016] Referring specifically to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, this item is completely made from a molded plastic and consists of a “chair seat and back” shaped upper portion 25 and a lower two-legged portion 27. Upper portion 25 consists of a flat back 29 and a slightly rearwardly angled front 31. The front 31 is flat except for a series or horizontal grooves 33 which, during use, will positively grip the surface of a golf ball. The golf ball will sit upon two lower arms 35, which extend forwardly of the lower end of the face 31. The lower portion 27 consists of two spike-like downwardly extending legs 37 which can be inserted into the green of a golf course to position the golf tee in the required altitude. A line and stake as shown in FIG. 1 under numerals 15 and 21 respectively is utilized with the embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, the line being secured thereto through an aperture 39. The approximate position of the golf ball when placed upon the tee is shown by dotted line 41.

[0017] It must be seen that in the embodiment of FIG. 4, if a golf club head strikes the golf tee on face 29, the golf ball 41 will be propelled from face 31 in the direction perpendicular to face 31 irrespective of the angle that the head strikes face 29. Therefore as long as the tee is aligned in the direction that the golf ball is to travel, then the golf ball will be propelled in that direction no matter what angle the golf head hits the golf tee 39.

[0018] For explanation the Law of the Conservation of Energy is used in the following equations wherein:

[0019] M_(c)=Mass of Club

[0020] V₁=initial club velocity before impact

[0021] V_(A)=club velocity after impact

[0022] M_(B)=Mass of Ball

[0023] V_(B)=Velocity of Ball

[0024] E=Energy loss

[0025] M=Mass of Golf Tee

[0026] V_(T)=Velocity of Golf Tee

[0027] Kinetic Energy (KE)=½ Mass(M)×Velocity(V)², and

[0028] KE of club before impact=KE of club after impact+KE of ball+Energy loss.

[0029] i.e. ½M_(C)V₁ ²=½M_(C)V_(A) ²+½M_(B)V_(B) ² 30 E

[0030] When using the golf tee of this invention the equation becomes:

[0031] ½M_(C)V₁ ²=½M_(C)V_(A) ²+½M_(B)V_(B) ²+E+½M_(T)V_(T) ²

[0032] Therefore there is less energy transfer to the ball and some distance is lost. As the swing becomes more erratic, more of the off-axis or horizontal energy is dissipated by the golf tee of this invention. This disadvantage is offset by the straight drive versus a long slice deep into the woods for instance.

[0033] It will thus be seen that this invention provides a golf tee with which it is possible to obtain straight drives of a golf ball and avoid any hooking, or slicing of the ball.

[0034] It is envisaged that durable golf tees of this invention can be constructed and also improvements to it can be made such as the adding of extra features. In this regard it would be possible to add an accelerometer to the tee so that the club speed can be measured at impact to provide the golfer with feedback on the quality of his drive.

[0035] It will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art that a number of variations and modifications can be made without departing from the true spirit of the invention which will now be pointed out in the appended claims. 

I claim:
 1. A golf tee comprising a body, support legs secured to said body, a contact surface at one end of said body to accept driving force from a golf club, a flat face at an opposite end of said body, and a pair of pins extending forwardly from a lower region of said flat face and upon which a golf ball can be supported and rest upon said flat face.
 2. The golf tee of claim 1 , wherein said flat face is angled towards the upper part of said contact surface, such that upon impact of a golf club upon said contact surface, a golf ball will be projected at an upward angle.
 3. The golf tee of claim 1 , wherein said support legs are two in number and extend from and below a lower face of said body such that said legs can be partly inserted into the soil of a playing surface to support said body.
 4. The golf tee of claim 1 , wherein said pins are each straight and have small heads at their free ends.
 5. The golf tee of claim 1 , wherein a flexible line is secured by one end to said body and a stake is secured to the other end of said line for restraining excessive travel of the tee during use when said stake is anchored.
 6. A unitary molded body golf tee having an upper chair seat and back shaped portion and a lower leg portion, said upper portion having an upstanding flat back having a flat rear face and a slightly inclined flat front face, the seat part extending from the lower end of the front face, and the lower portion having downwardly extending legs from the central region of the underside of the seat part.
 7. The golf tee of claim 6 , including grooves arranged across said front-face.
 8. The golf tee of claim 6 , wherein there are only two legs extending below the seat part.
 9. The golf tee of claim 6 , wherein there is a wedge shaped recess extending from the rear to the front of the seat.
 10. A unitary molded body golf tee having an upper chair scat and back shaped portion and a lower leg portion, said upper portion having an upstanding flat back having a flat rear face and a slightly inclined flat front face, the seat part extending from the lower end of the front face, and the lower portion having downwardly extending legs from the central region of the underside of the seat part, the golf tee of claim 6 , including grooves arranged across said front-face wherein wherein there are only two legs extending below the seat part, and wherein there is a wedge shaped recess extending from the rear to the front of the seat, the energy equation when the golf tee is in use being ½M_(C)V₁ ²=½M_(C)V_(A) ²+½M_(B)V_(B) ²+E+½M_(T)V_(T) ² Wherein M_(C)=Mass of Club V₁=initial club velocity before impact V_(A)=club velocity after impact M_(B)=Mass of Ball V_(B)=Velocity of Ball E=Energy loss M_(T)=Mass of Golf Tee p1 V_(T)=Velocity of Golf Tee p1 Kinetic Energy (KE)=½Mass(M)×Velocity(V)², and p1 KE of club before impact=KE of club after impact+KE of ball+Energy loss. 